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I agree about the taxis, we noticed a real difference this trip and could have easily been ripped off had we not knew what to expect each trip to cost. On one of the evenings all 15 of us went to Tony Romas, in three cabs and my friend who was picking up the bill was charged at least double. On the way back the restaurant called us a cab and we agreed fixed price before setting off. Driver was saying Checker Cabs are a lot more expensive than other companies...but they are the ones outside the resorts.

Sorry to hear about Cali Grill - we went twice in September..all 15 of us and had great food and service

On the way back the restaurant called us a cab and we agreed fixed price before setting off. Driver was saying Checker Cabs are a lot more expensive than other companies...but they are the ones outside the resorts.

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Yep just a word on that one.

Many of the restaurants now seem to have deals with certain companies and some of the servers seem to have their own deals too. On a few occasions I gave them the card to call a yellow checker cab and found a town car outside. All but one agreed on the spot to match the price we'd had from the yellow cab on the way. The one who didn't agree got in a right strop "this is a luxury town car not a cab" well I didn't need a luxury town car nor did I ask for one!

I was talking to one of the more friendly drivers who said the deals with restaurants are their bread and butter. It gets them business that the almighty mears overlooks and he said "fare? well it's very obvious to us who's a local and who's in town on business put it that way wink" In other words, locals won't stand to be ripped off where as a business/conventioner or perhaps a holiday maker will just think oh well and pay it.

This was a bit different to prior visits too in that I used to say "please can you call me a cab" and get back "we have a town car service?" I'd say nah, cab is fine thanks this time they'd go off with the yellow cab card, and obviously just call their town car service anyway.

We thought there may be some 'arrangement' but as we had been so overcharged on the way there we were more than happy with the return fare. I didn't recognise the company name but driver was polite and friendly.

Nearly every driver we had was from Haiti, hated the US and moaned about how they could barely afford to eat. On our way back from Millennia, one driver took us through a really dodgy residential area and we were a bit scared to be honest.

Definitely noticed a difference ...may be time to hire a car for a few days next trip.

Oh and DS wheelchair was found to have illegal substances on the chassis/wheels as we went through Security on the way home. Set off all the alarms. Supervisor swabbed chair again and said was no doubt from it being thrown in/out of taxis during our holiday.

Oh and DS wheelchair was found to have illegal substances on the chassis/wheels as we went through Security on the way home. Set off all the alarms. Supervisor swabbed chair again and said was no doubt from it being thrown in/out of taxis during our holiday.

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how scary is *THAT*! Thanks goodness the supervisor had the sense to understand rather than being stupid about it. Does make you think though doesn't it :/

I wasn't happy with the whole taxi thing this time at all. I can usually size them up pretty well and I get a bit of nice polite no-nonsense "this is how it's going to be" out the way up front and all is well. This time though was bad in almost all respects.

We went to the Florida mall a few times and on one occasion a yellow cab went by and I ALMOST raised my hand to stop him when I noticed he didnt have the official mears markings. Very good replica but not quite legit. Well having been stung by no-meters and so on, I waved him on his way. I got a not so friendly gesture off the driver and THEN a mears guy ran over to me and tried to have a semi-go at me for trying to hire an "illegal cab" as he put it. I'm sure he'd have said more except there was a sheriff car right by us and he kept glancing over.

Hired a cab at 3am to go for a middle of the night walmart trip (always entertaining ) got in the cab, just out of the resort I noticed he hadnt put the meter on. "oh its alright my friend I'll work it out when we get there". Said erm no thanks but I'd rather see what it's working out as. You can imagine

Wow. I guess I'm used to NYC taxis where the meter goes on and that's that. You do of course have the chance of being taken the long way around, but that's the only real issue there that I ever ran into.

I wouldn't be quick to use a taxi here in Orlando area! I can't imaging the US being worse than Haiti.

Wow. I guess I'm used to NYC taxis where the meter goes on and that's that. You do of course have the chance of being taken the long way around, but that's the only real issue there that I ever ran into.

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yeah I remember going into Vegas once and getting "do you want the short way or the quick way?"

Of course the short way was through loads of traffic and would take ages
the quick way was well out of the way and racked up the miles

Either way you couldn't win I tried "the cheapest way I'd use if I were a local" but mysteriously that ended up costing the same.

I wouldn't be quick to use a taxi here in Orlando area! I can't imaging the US being worse than Haiti.

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Well we use cabs a LOT in Orlando so I see it all. We did of course have some uneventful trips that cost more than last time, but simply due to price increases rather than any funny business.

The other thing was, EVERY SINGLE DRIVER moaned about how bad things were for them before we paid. I'm sure things ARE bad for them and I wish things were better, but it's bad all round yah know and no one pays me any tips

Hey Keith, welcome back.
I wish that I had your excellent knack of condensing your trip reports into a single post!
It seems like you had a real mix of experiences during your vacation, but at least I`m glad to hear that Charley`s is still up to scratch.

If we ever meet up again over there we MUST take you and Helen to some of the other restaurants we`ve found....don`t worry about the cost, I`ll turn my meter off!

Nice report Keith. Very enjoyable & informative read. Glad to know BLT was a positive experience & now I know to request a top floor room. They absolutely should not charge the same points for a 2nd or 3rd floor room as an 11th. Maybe if they get enough complaints, they will do something about that. You didn't mention the roof top pool! Was it fantastic?? Oh & can DVC members NOT staying at BLT tour it? or do you have to actually be staying there to walk thru & get up to the rooftop?

I hate to hear AKL is overcrowded on the busses. I hate that more than anything. They really need to add more busses or seperate the bus system or something. That place is huge now.

Never watched 'twas the night before Christmas even though I've been to the party a few times, eh, I'm a ride girl, what can I say? lol But my daughter will actually love knowing Stitch is in something else. She loves him & I guess he's a pretty popular fella if he's being incorporated in so much.

I think the taxi driver might have been trying to up his tip by being your protector, lol. I guess if the camera shop was an independent it's hard for them to match prices of Best Buys & such. Those places get such bulk discounts when buying more than little 'mom 'n pop' places do. What you hope you get for the price is better service & more knowledge tho. A lot of those people working in the cookie cutter stores know less than I do about cameras (& I know very little).

Having stayed at Kidani Village, I can say we loved the bus service. It comes to the DVC first, and drops off first. Now, having paid a small fortune to stay at the Jambo House, I would not be impressed.

However, all the deluxes tend to have lousy bus service because they share. The circle of resorts at BWI are terrible!!!

Having stayed at Kidani Village, I can say we loved the bus service. It comes to the DVC first, and drops off first. Now, having paid a small fortune to stay at the Jambo House, I would not be impressed.

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Actually it does seem to alternate. Sometimes picking up at Jambo house first and sometimes kidani and the same on the way back. Of course that's really not great because there's a huge sigh from whichever is left till last, especially on the way back from the magic kingdom late at night and when everyone is standing.

However, all the deluxes tend to have lousy bus service because they share. The circle of resorts at BWI are terrible!!!

The best bit, once we got a good room, was each and every time we came back to our room mousekeeping had left the curtains open just enough so that as we opened the door, we saw the castle sparkling out of the window.

The best bit, once we got a good room, was each and every time we came back to our room mousekeeping had left the curtains open just enough so that as we opened the door, we saw the castle sparkling out of the window.

The very best view ever

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Oh that sounds amazing Keith I've never been one to splurge on views but for this place, I may have to!